Average number of days during the past 30 days when an adult's physical health or mental health was not good

Measure Overview

A variety of factors and circumstances can adversely affect an individual’s mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing on a day-to-day basis, such as lack of sleep, a stressful work environment, or poor diet. The number of days that an individual does not have good health–or “unhealthy days”–on a regular basis is one way to measure quality of life and can serve as a starting point for examining underlying health-related issues. Tracking unhealthy days across states and demographic groups is an essential component in identifying health disparities and formulating strategies to address these disparities and achieve equity.

State Health Compare provides annual, state-level rates of adult unhealthy days. Estimates are available beginning in 2011 and are based on findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey. This measure is available by type of unhealthy day (e.g., mentally unhealthy days, physically unhealthy days) and estimates can be broken down by age, race/ethnicity categories, coverage type, disability status, education level, and income.

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